Minimally invasive medicine, the practice of gaining access to a body vessel, duct, or organ using a guiding member to facilitate the subsequent introduction of other medical devices, has been evolving since the Seldinger technique was first popularized during the 1950's and 1960's. In contemporary medicine, self-expandable intraluminal medical devices are frequently used in a variety of minimally invasive procedures. For example, self-expandable stents are used to provide support to various vessels and ducts in the circulatory and the gastro-intestinal systems. Also, prosthetic valves and other intraluminal devices are gaining popularity as tools for supplementing and/or replacing natural valves in a variety of locations within the body, such as veins and the heart and its associated vessels.
When placing medical devices within a body vessel, it may be desirable to provide a protective device that can capture any solid mass, e.g., an embolus, that may travel through the circulation during the procedure. Permanent or semi-permanent filters can be implanted in a downstream location, such as within the inferior vena cava to provide the desired protection. Also, filters or other structures associated with a delivery system can be used to provide distal protection during and/or after a procedure.
As this field of health care continues to advance there is a need for improved methods and devices for use in these important techniques. There is a distinct need for delivery systems that offer distal protection features, especially delivery systems adapted for placement of self-expandable intraluminal medical devices.